A case of **earthquakes induced by fracking** in the surroundings of **Vaca Muerta** in **Neuquén** [reached the Justice](https://noticiasambientales.com/animales/borrador-automaticotermina-el-juicio-por-la-masacre-de-pinguinos-en-punta-tombo-la-fiscalia-pidio-cuatro-anos-de-carcel/). Almost three and a half years ago, five courts and tribunals, and even the Supreme Court had to make decisions regarding this.
However, the **Supreme Court recently washed their hands** of the issue by declaring themselves incompetent. They sent the case file to the provincial Justice of Neuquén, and the complainants are still waiting.
## Earthquakes caused by fracking in Vaca Muerta
**Sauzal Bonito**, a rural area near the zone exploited by **Tecpetrol, the oil company of Techint in Vaca Muerta**, is trembling. This was revealed by *elDiarioAr* based on the data from the **Induced Seismicity Observatory**.
At least **508 earthquakes have been recorded in the area since 2015**, detailed the geographer Javier Grosso Heredia.
The area exploited by Tecpetrol is called **Fortín de Piedra**, and it is a hydrocarbon zone of around 25,000 hectares located on both banks of the Neuquén River.
It is divided into two blocks: only the first one is developed and active. **It represents 32% of the gas production in Vaca Muerta** and involves an investment of 3.5 billion dollars since it began its operations in 2017, according to the state agency *Télam*.
The complaints from the residents, the studies of the Induced Seismicity Observatory, and the records of the National Institute of Seismic Prevention (INPRES) support **the complaints against the province and the company, although the oil company refuses to give their version of the events** or present publicly studies that prove otherwise.
## The case in Justice
The peak of production was in 2018, when **seismic records of magnitude were produced in the area, with peaks of 3.1 and 4.9 Ml” (Richter)**.
This was determined by the studies of the scientists **Grosso Heredia** (Professor of Geography and researcher at the National University of Comahue, among other titles) and **Guillermo Tamburini Beliveau** (Ph.D. in engineering from the National University of Rosario and Engineer in Cartography and Geodesy from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, in addition to being a researcher at Conicet) along with the **Foundation for Environmental and Natural Resources (FARN)**.
In 2021, FARN, **residents of the rural area, and the Mapuche community Lof Wirkaleo filed an injunction before the federal Justice of Neuquén**, which decided to refer the case to the Supreme Court, as the earthquakes were also affecting localities in Río Negro.
When it comes to affecting more than one jurisdiction, the Supreme Court intervenes. However, the case spent approximately three years in the Supreme Court, until **August 13**.
The judges **Horacio Rosatti, Juan Carlos Maqueda, and Carlos Rosenkrantz rejected the competence in just two paragraphs** and sent the case to the provincial Justice of Neuquén.
In the Superior Court of Justice of the Patagonian province, they decided to send the case to a civil and commercial court. Weeks later, **the judge again declined jurisdiction and stated that “the suitable procedural action”** should be brought before the administrative litigation jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs appealed the decision, and since then, the case is in the Court of Appeals of the jurisdiction, which **must decide the fate of the case**.
## Earthquakes caused by fracking: what is sought with the injunction
**Cristian Fernández**, lawyer for FARN, explained that the injunction seeks for the Justice to order the Executive Power of Neuquén **to carry out environmental impact studies, public hearings, and prior free and informed consultation with the indigenous communities**.
They also requested that the province be ordered to, until such studies and public hearings are conducted, demand from the holders of the exploitation permits to include or consider in their Environmental Impact Statements all the impacts that the **non-conventional hydrocarbon exploitation activity** causes.
## What is fracking
Fracking, also known as **hydraulic fracturing**, is a technique used to extract oil and natural gas from unconventional reservoirs.
It consists of injecting fluids at high pressure to create artificial fractures in the rock. It is used to **release hydrocarbons** that are trapped where porosity and permeability are low.
To prevent the fissures from closing, they are propped open with special sand grains. It has long been **a subject of debate worldwide**, as it is considered to pose serious environmental, social, and public health risks.
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